Though director Koratala Siva’s Devara: Part 1, starring NT Rama Rao Jr (popularly known as Jr NTR), Saif Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor in the lead roles, continues to mint good money, it has fallen short of the commercial performance of Jr NTR’s last film, RRR.  Given that the film marked Jr NTR’s return to the silver screen after two years since the global blockbuster RRR, expectations were particularly high. But Devara opened to mixed response. While the film has grossed an impressive Rs 466 crore worldwide as of Monday, its performance pales in comparison to other recent Indian blockbusters like the Prabhas-starrer Kalki 2898 AD.

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During an interview organised by the makers with Jr NTR and Koratala Siva, the actor said, “We as an audience have become very negative these days. We are not able to enjoy a film in an innocent manner anymore,” India Today reported.

“When I watch my sons, they don’t care about what actor or what movie they are watching; they just enjoy movies. I wonder why we are not able to be that innocent anymore? Every film today, we are watching it to analyse. We are all constantly judging, analysing and overthinking about films. Maybe our exposure to cinema has made us like this,” he noted.

Mentioning that all these might be part of an ever-rotating cycle, Jr NTR said that such practises will, after one point, reach the threshold and then return to “normal” after undergoing correction. While Kalki had earned Rs 52.6 crore and Rs 12.2 crore in the domestic market on its second Sunday and Monday, respectively, Devara’s India nett collection for these corresponding days are Rs 12.65 crore and Rs crore.

In his review of the movie, The Indian Express’ Avinash Ramachandran wrote, “The Jr NTR film starts off really strong, only to suffer an extended downward slide that is finally salvaged by a bloody finale that is equal parts engaging and outlandish.”